Chenopodium desiccatum

Aridland goosefoot

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Aridland goosefoot is a California native annual found in the Sierra Nevada, southern San Joaquin Valley, Transverse Ranges, Great Basin, and northern Desert Mountains in open places, scrub, and conifer forest at elevations below 2,900 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces small green flowers in densely packed axillary and terminal panicles. Growing with several erect to spreading stems 12 to 40 centimeters tall, it has a distinctive branching habit emerging from the base. Its leaves are narrow and linear to lance-shaped, 15 to 25 millimeters long, with a fleshy texture and a powdery appearance, particularly on the underside. The fruits are small, approximately 1 millimeter in diameter, with a horizontal black seed that is warty and shiny.

Habitat: Uncommon. Open places, scrub, conifer forest

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: < 2900 m

Bioregions: SN, SnJV, TR, GB, n DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Monterey, Mono, Los Angeles, Inyo, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Kern, El Dorado, Alpine, Plumas, Lassen, Modoc, Stanislaus, Nevada, Ventura, Placer, Tulare, Butte, Imperial, Merced, Mariposa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.